Somebody Testify!

Here we go! Chapter 4 of Daniel!

If you’re new this week…welcome! We have been studying Daniel together and this week we start chapter four (like you didn’t already read that. Just want you to feel welcome)

Ahem

Grab your Bible or open up YouVersion in the right hand column to, guess…Daniel 4!

The very first words are “King Nebby,” Now this is the beginning of a letter, but it is not written in the way we write. King Nebby’s name at the top means he is writing the letter, not that he is being written to. He is about to give a testimony to what has happened in his life. Please take the time to read the entire chapter before the week is out.

In the mean time, I’ll do sum-ups and give you the low-down. (I like hyphenated words)

Please now read 4:1-3. Aaaaaaaand, stop. We’ll get to the rest of it throughout the week. Right now I want to set up the key verse and the theme for the week:

2 “It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed.”

Testimony

King Nebby is about to give his testimony to all the people he can. He’s a pretty important dude so he had the opportunity to tell, like, hundreds of thousands!

He begins with praise and acknowledgment of Who was in charge, in the right, and guiding his life. His first few lines place God is a position of authority through how Nebby presents his testimony.

Often, I’ve heard testimony’s like: “I did this and this and this….I was this and this and this…and then God came in and now I’m this and this and this.” That’s a little different than how King Nebby started his testimony.

The miraculous signs and wonders of GOD
How great are HIS signs
How mighty HIS wonders!
HIS kingdom is an eternal kingdom;
HIS dominion endures from generation to generation

See what I’m talking about. Too often our testimony can be all about who we were and who we are. Don’t get me wrong, Jesus will do that to a person. But, I want to make sure He’s getting more of the testimony props than me.

I could give you a laundry list of all I’ve done. But, what does that do? It gives you a laundry list about me. However, I can say my testimony this way:

“I’ve made some bad choices. Ones that make me look stupid, feel small, and have bound me up in strongholds I pray I never get bound up in again. The only way I am free is because Jesus saved me, rescued me, and changed me.”

What’s the focus? Me or Jesus? You don’t get to hear all the nitty gritty of what I’ve done in my life because I don’t want anyone to attach and relate solely to my strongholds. I want them to attach to Jesus. Some details are necessary, I understand. Others have no business being a part of my story. I don’t want to use my testimony as a platform to say, “Hey, look how crappy my life was!” But I want it to say, “Hey, look how fantastic my God is!”

That’s exactly what King Nebby is about to do. Slide over to the last verse in chapter 4:

“Now I, King Nebby, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. Add those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”

Let us be mindful when the Lord does something in our lives that we give Him praise, raising Him up and humbling ourselves.

Be thinking about your testimony. How can you tell of his wonders more than your blunders?